this is more of a surgery blog… today is hip-day, come 13:00 i shouldn't be afflicted with femoroacetabular impingement anymore (yea me), at least my right side shouldn't be, and the labrum shouldn't be flapping around the joint anymore, either... i don't know what the recovery period is going to be like, i imagine there will be a new kind of soreness, some reduced strength, and reduced mobility, but i don't know how long that stuff will last, or how miserable and grumpy i'm going to be until the benefits of the surgery are realized, and the effects of physical therapy kick-in, time will tell... so, i tried to shower with the chair that they gave me--it's not going to work for me, not in the stand-up shower-stall that we have, so after this morning i'll probably be taking two minute showers until i regain my strength again, i don't think i verbalized any obscenities during last-night's shower fiasco, but i certainly 'thought' a bunch of them... anyways... prayers are welcomed/appreciated, i have some anxiety about a few aspects of the procedure and recovery period, so that would be a decent place to cover in your prayers, i'm sure that Ben and his team will do great work, but it's more of the recovery that i'm concerned with, i suppose... thank you, and God bless. -- ct
[UPDATE 04-30-23]: it’s been three full weeks since the hip was repaired, the irony of this post’s title (straight from Mr. T in one of the Rocky movies}, well the irony is that my pain-level hasn’t been above a 3 (out of 10 scale) since the procedures, the anxiety and expectation was that i would have lots of pain during my recovey, and that hasn’t been the case, not at all, the pain in my wrist and shoulder spiked, but not the hip, the hip just gets tired/exhausted and i don’t have a range of motion to be proud about, but no pain, go figure :-)
06-28-23: big day, i sort of 'graduated' from physical therapy for the hip, almost three months after surgery... i still have a few more months for a more complete recovery, but i out-scored something that they measure based on age and duration of PT, so i can't complain... one of my daughters and i are going to start at the local YMCA starting next week, so my PT will resume, it's not going to be supervised by a professional... i think i'm about 75-80 percent back, but there is still some more strengthening and range of motion to improve, and there is still some inflammation too... half of my ass is normal, and the other half is mostly jiggle with a wee-little muscle that's trying to find it's place in this world... they say you stop building muscle after a certain age (twenty years ago for me), but i plan on working that jiggly butt back to something that will pull it's weight--or, help move the rest of my body--i think older rich folks do things like steroids--i mean, 'hormone replacement', and stem-cell injections to the gimpy body parts to aide in recovery, but i'm going to have to try just by working my ass off, wish me luck, or pray, or send me good vibes, they will all probably help this middle-aged guy -- ct
i meet with the surgeon later this week, my hip and butt-cheek are still big, so i'm going to ask him to make sure he didn't leave a glove or a face-mask inside, i can't possibly be getting this big on my own, can i... he hee heee... i told Donna (physical therapist) today, that i sincerely feel like running, if the Doc OK's that desire of mine then i'll be wearing running shoes (not sandals) to next PT appt so i can give the treadmill a try... this is the part of rehab that's exciting, to really start testing the hip, and to see what i'm still capable of... i don't know that there is much golf in my future, but Donna says that practicing the swing is good for rotation and strength, who's up for the driving range? Just kidding, my gimpy wrist couldn't stand it... yes, grown men cry--and sometimes it's while golfing with a gimpy wrist
i've weened completely off of the crutches a few days ago, i still don't have great range of motion, and some muscles are still pretty weak, and sometimes the muscles don't seem to work in harmony--or, in the correct order, aka. 'muscle memory', the muscle memory is still pretty wonky, every now and then i take some great steps at a good pace and everything feels relatively normal, but then a few minutes later i look as awkward as a rum drinking peg-legged pirate during a stiff gale... i think the inconsistency has much to do with the weakness and ROM, but i was warned that i would probably be making substantial progress in the near future, and i think that's starting to happen now...
... this was my first surgery, but i also have a few other chronic conditions which we found out was also due to torn soft-tissue, tendon issues, and impingement... i mention this to the reader for a bit of practical advice to the reader who might go through similar situations in the future... if i were to plan things better i would have tried to get the shoulder and wrist repaired before the hip, one at a time of course... the chronic conditions of the upper-extremities were greatly exasperated trying to compensate for what the hip was incapable of doing, and the surrounding muscles of the hip are a lot stronger than the forearm and shoulder, the hip is stronger and has to support much more weight (i used to squat close to 400lbs, but couldn't bench-press more than 225)... so the weak/damaged wrist and shoulder are instrumental in things like laying up and down, standing up and down, and supporting much of your weight with the dang crutches... the shoulder and wrist have both been treated with cortisone recently as beginning treatment (besides the PT that i already had), and to try to help with the post-op flare-up... maybe i should have had the injections prior to the surgery, maybe that would have been an idea, and i wouldn't have ruled-out the possibility of prednisone even, i dunno, i'm not a Doc... but hind-sight says that it would have made sense to either treat or repair the upper-body injuries before the lower-body injuries, that's my point... just another lesson learned the hard-way. -- ct
took a whole bunch of normal steps today, also walked up and down our stairs about normal too... not very consistent yet (still need muscle-memory), most of the day my walking was still pretty awkward, but those normal steps today were a good confidence booster... they said i was about to turn a good corner in regards to recovery, i think it started today :-)
... first, i was studying-up on lost languages, and after looking more closely at my three incision 'scars' they seem to spell-out 'Ben was here', it might just be a coincidence, but Dr. Ben was the surgeon, sooo, i dunno--maybe my cuneiform comprehension is just off little bit, or that i'm over-thinking... he-he-he... wait, one more medical joke... i go to my annual physical, and i told my doctor that my lazy-eye has miraculously been healed, he did a few tests and said 'you weren't healed, the rest of your body finally caught-up to the eye, now get off your arse you bum'... ouch
... and B, found out that one of my uncles had his third surgery on one of his hips the week after mine... i hope your healing and rehab goes smoothly Uncle T... and thanks for being an encouraging optimist with a heart to help others, it's never gone unnoticed... Love you Unc. -- ct
The last doctor's appointment i went to i was pretty excited to tell my PCP about my lazy eye that had somehow been fixed or cured... he said that was great, but wanted to run a few tests to see what might have happened, 15 minutes later he came back and said that nothing was fixed, cured, or healed... the rest of me got just as lazy as the eye... 'sounds about right, fare enough', i says to him... then punched him in the fore-head, and now he's cross-eyed... but, he doesn't make stupid wise-cracks anymore, so 'i' actually helped cure/fix/heal 'his' condition.
there it is... i think that version is a bit better
got my first cortisone injection yesterday, and learned that my shoulder is structured in such a way that impingement is almost inevitable, especially with repetitive movements (sports or work requirements), that fvcking needle hurt like a son-of-a-bitch while it was in there, i like Ben's conservative approach, there is a small tear that would probably justify surgical repair, but it's not substantial enough to justify digging right in... Dr Ben executed a very good multi-procedure hip-repair (not a replacement), FAI is what the pros call the issue with the hip, the labrum looked like a noodle, but it was good enough to repair, and he removed the impingement on the femur, he captured some great photos at different points of the procedures, so my hip shouldn't kill driving more than 15 min going forward... he warned me that it's a six-month recovery, and there is no getting around that, at least three months of PT and there is no getting around that... but with that said, Dr Ben seems to want me to maximize my potential, it's my assumption that he doesn't want me to waste the good work that he did, and sit on my ass, so i'm really hoping that when recovery is completed that i'll be able to hike again, play some tennis again, train in some other areas again, i've put-off a bunch of things due to the FAI... it's worth noting that my hip pain-level has been under three since the repair... i'm down to using one crutch now, and can manage shuffling around the kitchen for an hour or so without it here and there, the hip gets tired by dinner time if i've been up and active, it doesn't hurt, but it tires for sure... so Dr Ben Saks did a great job working on my hip, and he's hopeful that the cortisone will start helping the shoulder in the days to come as well, he was encouraged by my progress, so despite my structural deformities in and around some of my joints at lease i know that my body heals well, and responds well to treatment... i see Doc Heather regarding my wrist in the next couple of weeks, i might be relatively strong come mid-summer... core conditioning and getting the cardio-vascular systems exercised everyday are some of my primary objectives, that plus giving the PT for the hip the attention that it needs... feeling optimistic -- ct
weak-ass! that's a literal and accurate description of me, right now. the glute is weak, it's probably the weakest of the muscles surrounding/supporting/moving the newly-repaired hip, half of my fat italian ass is just a bunch of jiggle, at the moment... my core is getting strong and mechanics are improving once again, but that chunk of soft-tissue just below my back and above my right hamstring, that chunk of something isn't pulling it's weight quite yet... some folks seek cosmetic surgery to attain a fat-ass, my non-professional opinion/theory is that you better have a strong support structure to carry the extra jiggle... so on thing that could be worse than being a weak-ass is having a pain in the ass, in my case i'm not experiencing pain as a result of the weakness just yet, and thankful for Donna the physical therapist, i'm chomping at the bit to be able to train/work hard, and she's the one helping toward that path, and speaking sensible/relevant truth's to keep me from pushing reasonable expectations/limits... i LOVE the Spring-season, it's that time of year when a middle-aged weekend-warrior likes to get outside for some land-scaping and gardening, and it's usually the season where this particular weekend-warrior start's straining and over-exerting muscles and hurting myself through most of the summer, so i'm appreciative of the 'movement specialists' that are helping me recover from surgery, and are holding me to reasonable limitations until i get strong and healthy again... on a similar note, i see a surgeon about my shoulder options this week, and a different surgeon about options for my wrist in another couple of weeks... basically, i had some damaged joints that i just kept trying to manage with NSAIDs, braces, ice and heat, but the joints were damaged to the degree where they weren't ever going to 'get better' without getting repaired, so i more or less followed the 'just rub dirt on it' mantra for decades, in some ways it's also the definition of insanity, repeating the same thing many times expecting different/better results... so i ended-up with hip impingement, shoulder impingement, and i don't know what the wrist specialist is going to call the wrist thing that i got going on... it was ridiculous to let these injuries go for so long, it's a job intself to recover, heal, strengthen, and learn how to move correctly again, i don't know how i would have been able to do any of this given the physical jobs that i switched to later in life... now i probably have to try to do some remote employment going forward, but i won't work for companies that enforced experimental-vaccine mandates, they are tomorrow's SS-officers as far as i'm concerned, they are compliant managers/puppets
got the stitches out yesterday, don't have to wear the compression socks anymore, and Doc Ben said it's time to start weening off the crutches, the crutches are now for balance, not support... Ben showed me a bunch of pictures too, the labrum wasn't 'a small tear' as the arthrogram suggested, it was straight-up dangling/floating around, and the part of the femur that required grinding was pretty damn obvious, the bone looked like it was damaged by a two-clawed grizzly bear (bone on bone impingement)... the bad news is that there is no escaping 3 months of physical therapy, the PT is treated like a sports injury, not a pain management thing, no biggie, i'm actually looking forward to some good old-fashioned conditioning and hard-earned sweat... speaking of sweat, took my first shower in two weeks today, the soapy face-cloth (field hygiene, whore bath) was minimally sufficient/adequate, but feeling the hot water from a shower-head was like a spa-day (never been to a spa other than repairing or installing something, so i don't really know what a day at a spa is really like), gave myself a nice short haircut and a shave before-hand--it was a real treat--i felt like a million bucks, my net-worth has never been more than 50k or so (once upon a time when i earned a decent salary), but i'm pretty sure that i felt a whole million's worth today... the hips were exhausted by this afternoon, but not painful, tomorrow's PT will probably bring more exhaustion, and i'm totally looking forward to it :-) -- ct
Tuesday the 18th is post-op follow-up with Dr Ben, hopefully he'll loosen some restrictions, not sure when i should be able to bend more, or put more weight on the right side... going to try a cane today, the crutches are very useful, but they are beating the crap out of the gimpy wrist and the gimpy shoulder... speaking of which, the Ortho-surgeon at the VA has recommended seeing a hand-surgeon for the wrist, and getting the shoulder repaired via surgery too, it's impingement (like the hip), but it's got more arthritis then the hip, and it's the rotator that's torn, not a labrum, a couple of tendons are bummin' too... i did have some accidents that could have caused the initial trauma, but tennis probably killed the shoulder, and golf probably killed the hip, and then starting as an electrician's laborer at 49 years old killed just about everything else... just complaining because i can't do my own labor now (landscaping and hard-scaping), and the weather has been perfect for out-door work lately, it was 85 and sunny for two days, and today is supposed to be 65 in rockingham county :-))
So i think i set my expectations low for this surgery, despite the fact that there was a grinder and a drill involved it was still low trauma/invasive... Dr. Ben Saks probably felt like it was another day at the office (because he's well trained and experienced), but to me, his three to four hours of surgical attention is probably going to give me some additional years of physical ability, and even though there is still some fluid floating around my ass/hip/leg i'm already noticing less pain in that joint, less chronic pain (and FAI) equates to more mobility, less pain, and more self-sufficiency (probably some other positive aspects that i'm over-looking too)... the physical therapist got me moving in a few easy ways that seem insignificant, but they are just getting the surrounding muscles working again, the exercises--despite the resistance--feels good, it feels good doing some of those movements after laying flat for so many hours, the leg appreciates it... so my next big appointment is coming up--what to do about the damaged, worn, and inflamed tissue in my shoulder and wrist... i should still be laser focused on getting the hip and supporting muscles healthy and strong again, but using the crutches is exacerbating the damage done to the wrist and shoulder, it's unavoidable really, so i'm just trying to use them as little as possible, i move just a bit more than jabba-the-hut lately, but i'd like to lose a few pounds, not sit on my ass and burn zero calories for a week, but why should i complain about being forced to relax a bit, the truth is that i don't relax very well, so it's almost like a resistance exercise being forced to relax... anyhow, i think Dr Ben just did regular Dr Ben things, but it might have been life altering to me, it might have been that significant, and it might just be that he did an exceptional job a week ago, he might have mic-drop nailed it when he cut into the old ball-and-socket, it was probably easy/routine for him, but it was HUGE for me, and speaking of 'huge', my leg never swelled up as much as Ben warned me about, i'm definitely still carrying some fluid in my ass/hip/leg, but it never got creepy bloated/big, just a bit jiggly... Dr Ben and his team is awesome, and i'm about ready for a triathlon (no actually, no i'm not)... OK, good night and God bless. -- ct
the hip is recovering well, i'm able to move it pretty good today... here's a gross consideration up until a few hours ago i only defecated enough to fill a cereal bowl, and the turds were very hard and resembled something you'd find in an elk scat, not from humans... so, finally, a week after surgery and the soft-serve ice-cream machine has been turned back on :-)) ... feeling much better, thank you... i feel so good i want to go for a run, but my leg will probably fall off if i do (no really, but it's far too soon)... God bless. -- ct
happy Easter to those of you who celebrate it, i'm just writing here https://www.christopher.news/not-quite/index today... if you read this after Easter then look for the 'Easter 2023' time-stamp... God bless... cheers. -- ct
so this is what they did... right hip arthroscopy with labral repair... femoral-plasty, acetabuloplasty, capsular closure, to correct FAI with torn labrum... Doc Ben executed those procedures with very minimal trauma to surrounding tissue... he warned me that my leg would swell because they pump so much water into the socket area during his work, i definitely noticed some weird jiggle in my quadriceps area during the week, but nothing alarming, but then today i noticed me arse grew as well, it seems the fluid also goes to your ass, in my case it did... the left side is like one of those big florida grapefruits, but the right side is a full-blown melon, maybe 1.3 times larger than the left side:
just took my third pain pill, took one monday night around 9:pm, then took another one the next day around 4:pm, didn't require any yesterday, and then one just a few seconds ago... i probably shouldn't be as concerned with taking them as i have been, but i've gone through some addictive seasons over the course of my life, mostly using alcohol and/or cannabis, and tried some other things in my youth that just never stuck, so i definitely had some concern about taking opioids after the surgery... but the good thing is that i haven't experienced much pain since the surgery, there isn't as much inflammation or fluds around the site as expected, so there hasn't been too much pressure on surrounding tendons, the incisions are doing well, they aren't really tender and i'm not even icing it, not since monday evening... i'm still babying the hip and leg, have to be careful about how much i bend and rotate, and told to only put 20-percent of weight on it for now, so it's not getting a whole lot of work yet, but it doesn't really get 'painful', i think the procedure is already causing less pain then before despite the 'trauma' of surgery, it doesn't seem like he caused much trauma at all, you know 'minimally invasive' kind of stuff right there, Dr Ben demonstrated/executed some serious skills on my procedures, and now God and biology are doing their respective parts... thanks for the prayers folks, thanks for responding Lord God, now if i can just behave myself and keep realistic expectations and limitations i might just come through this thing with more mobility and less pain, and hopefully for several decades to come (unless that length of time isn't required due to personal expiration)... i don't know what folks did a hundred years ago if they had my particular injury/ailment, i'm sure they slooowed down, eventually used a cane or crutch, probably medicated for pain relief--maybe even became alcoholics or addicts, probably iced the joint when they finally sat still, and might have been a real cranky-pants when the pain-level spiked or was elevated for a long duration... stupid torn labrums and FAI... good thing there are folks like Ben, and the team of folks that work alongside in the whole process, or i might have grown into a miserable old-cuss. -- ct
PT went well, she took off the original dressing and replaced the no-stick strips and just put band-aides over the incisions, the three incisions could fit in a tennis-ball or baseball size circle... awesome... i'd love to watch full video footage of the surgery to see how Ben did his thing... the PT-lady spoke highly of Dr Ben, she appreciates his treatment philosophy--and i think she is spot-on... she also gave me a few easy exercises that i am comfortable with. -- ct
thought it was worth mentioning that when i went to the same-day-surgery neither my wife or i had to wear a mask, no one in the hospital asked to wear one, and out of the 15 people that i had regular close contact with--for the five hours we were there--only seven of them were masked, and they were the ones that worked in the O.R., and the hospital wasn't concerned with my vaxx status... it's almost like the good old days when worse-case scenario wasn't the expected... everyone still has to mask at the VA hospital, government is government. -- ct
arguing with my daughter about how many ounces of hot water to make my tea, not really arguing, more like playful banter/teasing mixed with some emphasized drama/complaining... but it's nice to have loved-ones around to help when you are handicapped... i can make the tea, and my own food, but then i have to consume it in the kitchen (with no table), because you can't really carry much with crutches, the pockets in my PJs are helpful, but not for tea or eggs... i see a physical therapist tomorrow, the older daughter took the day off to drive me... it's weird being the recipient of care, but i'm thankful/grateful for having a loving family that's willing to provide it -- ct
crutches, i won't blow them up... yet... still need them... i might customize them a bit to make them palatable, until then they are the target of my profanity... i think it's the grips that need the most attention... grips can't be too difficult to modify, i don't think they should be round, i think they should be oblong/oval... ooow, i have an idea
i expected to be totally miserable after surgery, i guess it went better than expected, thanks for everyone's prayers, and Doc Ben too, that guy's got some great skills, he must have a very steady hand and phenomenal eye-sight too, he told me today that he didn't use any metal to anchor the sutures for the labrum, just a hole through the pelvis to hold the cord in place, i don't travel much anymore, but that gives the TSA (and metal detectors in general) one less thing to harass me over, no metal in my body still... i took one pain pill today, and it was more for my wrist and shoulder pain then the hip (i fvcking hate crutches), the crutches are a necessity, but if you've got gimpy wrists, elbows, or shoulders then you're bummin (Doc Ben says that he also does shoulders too :-))... not taking a pain pill tonight, in the last 72 hours i've had a collective 4-5 hours of sleep, so i'm skipping the pain pill and opting for an ambien tonight instead, the naproxen lasts about 12 hours, so that should hold me through the night as far as pain goes... i've got a spread-sheet going with all of the meds, what they are for, and when i take them, a good old fashioned pharma-journal... OK, i wish you all a good night, and blessings on your endeavors and sleep. -- ct
So far so good, took one pain-pill and i don't think i needed it, i took it before i went to bed to help with sleeping and pain, the pain never got bad overnight, and i don't know if i even slept about an hour, so i don't know if it was necessary at all, the naproxen might be enough without the powerful/addictive stuff, but time will tell... thankful for the way this experience has been going. -- ct
got home around 15:30, the team seemed like a great group of folks... the hip isn't in much pain right now, i took some naproxin around 17:00, drinking more fluids then i'm accustomed too, about to have some matzo-ball soup for dinner, and will probably take one of the hardcore drugs in a couple of hours to help with pain and sleep tonight... my leg hasn't bloated much yet, they pumped a bunch of water in the hip while they used the grinder to keep bone debris from staying inside, and i had visions of a 150lb leg that i'd be dragging around for days, i think it's only about 30-40lbs right now... although my toes feel a bit fat (hard to flex), but i'm not taking the compression sock off to look at it right now... God bless -- CT
06-28-23: big day, i sort of 'graduated' from physical therapy for the hip, almost three months after surgery... i still have a few more months for a more complete recovery, but i out-scored something that they measure based on age and duration of PT, so i can't complain... one of my daughters and i are going to start at the local YMCA starting next week, so my PT will resume, it's not going to be supervised by a professional... i think i'm about 75-80 percent back, but there is still some more strengthening and range of motion to improve, and there is still some inflammation too... half of my ass is normal, and the other half is mostly jiggle with a wee-little muscle that's trying to find it's place in this world... they say you stop building muscle after a certain age (twenty years ago for me), but i plan on working that jiggly butt back to something that will pull it's weight--or, help move the rest of my body--i think older rich folks do things like steroids--i mean, 'hormone replacement', and stem-cell injections to the gimpy body parts to aide in recovery, but i'm going to have to try just by working my ass off, wish me luck, or pray, or send me good vibes, they will all probably help this middle-aged guy -- ct
i meet with the surgeon later this week, my hip and butt-cheek are still big, so i'm going to ask him to make sure he didn't leave a glove or a face-mask inside, i can't possibly be getting this big on my own, can i... he hee heee... i told Donna (physical therapist) today, that i sincerely feel like running, if the Doc OK's that desire of mine then i'll be wearing running shoes (not sandals) to next PT appt so i can give the treadmill a try... this is the part of rehab that's exciting, to really start testing the hip, and to see what i'm still capable of... i don't know that there is much golf in my future, but Donna says that practicing the swing is good for rotation and strength, who's up for the driving range? Just kidding, my gimpy wrist couldn't stand it... yes, grown men cry--and sometimes it's while golfing with a gimpy wrist
i've weened completely off of the crutches a few days ago, i still don't have great range of motion, and some muscles are still pretty weak, and sometimes the muscles don't seem to work in harmony--or, in the correct order, aka. 'muscle memory', the muscle memory is still pretty wonky, every now and then i take some great steps at a good pace and everything feels relatively normal, but then a few minutes later i look as awkward as a rum drinking peg-legged pirate during a stiff gale... i think the inconsistency has much to do with the weakness and ROM, but i was warned that i would probably be making substantial progress in the near future, and i think that's starting to happen now...
... this was my first surgery, but i also have a few other chronic conditions which we found out was also due to torn soft-tissue, tendon issues, and impingement... i mention this to the reader for a bit of practical advice to the reader who might go through similar situations in the future... if i were to plan things better i would have tried to get the shoulder and wrist repaired before the hip, one at a time of course... the chronic conditions of the upper-extremities were greatly exasperated trying to compensate for what the hip was incapable of doing, and the surrounding muscles of the hip are a lot stronger than the forearm and shoulder, the hip is stronger and has to support much more weight (i used to squat close to 400lbs, but couldn't bench-press more than 225)... so the weak/damaged wrist and shoulder are instrumental in things like laying up and down, standing up and down, and supporting much of your weight with the dang crutches... the shoulder and wrist have both been treated with cortisone recently as beginning treatment (besides the PT that i already had), and to try to help with the post-op flare-up... maybe i should have had the injections prior to the surgery, maybe that would have been an idea, and i wouldn't have ruled-out the possibility of prednisone even, i dunno, i'm not a Doc... but hind-sight says that it would have made sense to either treat or repair the upper-body injuries before the lower-body injuries, that's my point... just another lesson learned the hard-way. -- ct
took a whole bunch of normal steps today, also walked up and down our stairs about normal too... not very consistent yet (still need muscle-memory), most of the day my walking was still pretty awkward, but those normal steps today were a good confidence booster... they said i was about to turn a good corner in regards to recovery, i think it started today :-)
OK, two updates,
... first, i was studying-up on lost languages, and after looking more closely at my three incision 'scars' they seem to spell-out 'Ben was here', it might just be a coincidence, but Dr. Ben was the surgeon, sooo, i dunno--maybe my cuneiform comprehension is just off little bit, or that i'm over-thinking... he-he-he... wait, one more medical joke... i go to my annual physical, and i told my doctor that my lazy-eye has miraculously been healed, he did a few tests and said 'you weren't healed, the rest of your body finally caught-up to the eye, now get off your arse you bum'... ouch
... and B, found out that one of my uncles had his third surgery on one of his hips the week after mine... i hope your healing and rehab goes smoothly Uncle T... and thanks for being an encouraging optimist with a heart to help others, it's never gone unnoticed... Love you Unc. -- ct
UPDATE: here, i re-worked the lazy-eye joke:
The last doctor's appointment i went to i was pretty excited to tell my PCP about my lazy eye that had somehow been fixed or cured... he said that was great, but wanted to run a few tests to see what might have happened, 15 minutes later he came back and said that nothing was fixed, cured, or healed... the rest of me got just as lazy as the eye... 'sounds about right, fare enough', i says to him... then punched him in the fore-head, and now he's cross-eyed... but, he doesn't make stupid wise-cracks anymore, so 'i' actually helped cure/fix/heal 'his' condition.
there it is... i think that version is a bit better
got my first cortisone injection yesterday, and learned that my shoulder is structured in such a way that impingement is almost inevitable, especially with repetitive movements (sports or work requirements), that fvcking needle hurt like a son-of-a-bitch while it was in there, i like Ben's conservative approach, there is a small tear that would probably justify surgical repair, but it's not substantial enough to justify digging right in... Dr Ben executed a very good multi-procedure hip-repair (not a replacement), FAI is what the pros call the issue with the hip, the labrum looked like a noodle, but it was good enough to repair, and he removed the impingement on the femur, he captured some great photos at different points of the procedures, so my hip shouldn't kill driving more than 15 min going forward... he warned me that it's a six-month recovery, and there is no getting around that, at least three months of PT and there is no getting around that... but with that said, Dr Ben seems to want me to maximize my potential, it's my assumption that he doesn't want me to waste the good work that he did, and sit on my ass, so i'm really hoping that when recovery is completed that i'll be able to hike again, play some tennis again, train in some other areas again, i've put-off a bunch of things due to the FAI... it's worth noting that my hip pain-level has been under three since the repair... i'm down to using one crutch now, and can manage shuffling around the kitchen for an hour or so without it here and there, the hip gets tired by dinner time if i've been up and active, it doesn't hurt, but it tires for sure... so Dr Ben Saks did a great job working on my hip, and he's hopeful that the cortisone will start helping the shoulder in the days to come as well, he was encouraged by my progress, so despite my structural deformities in and around some of my joints at lease i know that my body heals well, and responds well to treatment... i see Doc Heather regarding my wrist in the next couple of weeks, i might be relatively strong come mid-summer... core conditioning and getting the cardio-vascular systems exercised everyday are some of my primary objectives, that plus giving the PT for the hip the attention that it needs... feeling optimistic -- ct
weak-ass! that's a literal and accurate description of me, right now. the glute is weak, it's probably the weakest of the muscles surrounding/supporting/moving the newly-repaired hip, half of my fat italian ass is just a bunch of jiggle, at the moment... my core is getting strong and mechanics are improving once again, but that chunk of soft-tissue just below my back and above my right hamstring, that chunk of something isn't pulling it's weight quite yet... some folks seek cosmetic surgery to attain a fat-ass, my non-professional opinion/theory is that you better have a strong support structure to carry the extra jiggle... so on thing that could be worse than being a weak-ass is having a pain in the ass, in my case i'm not experiencing pain as a result of the weakness just yet, and thankful for Donna the physical therapist, i'm chomping at the bit to be able to train/work hard, and she's the one helping toward that path, and speaking sensible/relevant truth's to keep me from pushing reasonable expectations/limits... i LOVE the Spring-season, it's that time of year when a middle-aged weekend-warrior likes to get outside for some land-scaping and gardening, and it's usually the season where this particular weekend-warrior start's straining and over-exerting muscles and hurting myself through most of the summer, so i'm appreciative of the 'movement specialists' that are helping me recover from surgery, and are holding me to reasonable limitations until i get strong and healthy again... on a similar note, i see a surgeon about my shoulder options this week, and a different surgeon about options for my wrist in another couple of weeks... basically, i had some damaged joints that i just kept trying to manage with NSAIDs, braces, ice and heat, but the joints were damaged to the degree where they weren't ever going to 'get better' without getting repaired, so i more or less followed the 'just rub dirt on it' mantra for decades, in some ways it's also the definition of insanity, repeating the same thing many times expecting different/better results... so i ended-up with hip impingement, shoulder impingement, and i don't know what the wrist specialist is going to call the wrist thing that i got going on... it was ridiculous to let these injuries go for so long, it's a job intself to recover, heal, strengthen, and learn how to move correctly again, i don't know how i would have been able to do any of this given the physical jobs that i switched to later in life... now i probably have to try to do some remote employment going forward, but i won't work for companies that enforced experimental-vaccine mandates, they are tomorrow's SS-officers as far as i'm concerned, they are compliant managers/puppets
got the stitches out yesterday, don't have to wear the compression socks anymore, and Doc Ben said it's time to start weening off the crutches, the crutches are now for balance, not support... Ben showed me a bunch of pictures too, the labrum wasn't 'a small tear' as the arthrogram suggested, it was straight-up dangling/floating around, and the part of the femur that required grinding was pretty damn obvious, the bone looked like it was damaged by a two-clawed grizzly bear (bone on bone impingement)... the bad news is that there is no escaping 3 months of physical therapy, the PT is treated like a sports injury, not a pain management thing, no biggie, i'm actually looking forward to some good old-fashioned conditioning and hard-earned sweat... speaking of sweat, took my first shower in two weeks today, the soapy face-cloth (field hygiene, whore bath) was minimally sufficient/adequate, but feeling the hot water from a shower-head was like a spa-day (never been to a spa other than repairing or installing something, so i don't really know what a day at a spa is really like), gave myself a nice short haircut and a shave before-hand--it was a real treat--i felt like a million bucks, my net-worth has never been more than 50k or so (once upon a time when i earned a decent salary), but i'm pretty sure that i felt a whole million's worth today... the hips were exhausted by this afternoon, but not painful, tomorrow's PT will probably bring more exhaustion, and i'm totally looking forward to it :-) -- ct
Tuesday the 18th is post-op follow-up with Dr Ben, hopefully he'll loosen some restrictions, not sure when i should be able to bend more, or put more weight on the right side... going to try a cane today, the crutches are very useful, but they are beating the crap out of the gimpy wrist and the gimpy shoulder... speaking of which, the Ortho-surgeon at the VA has recommended seeing a hand-surgeon for the wrist, and getting the shoulder repaired via surgery too, it's impingement (like the hip), but it's got more arthritis then the hip, and it's the rotator that's torn, not a labrum, a couple of tendons are bummin' too... i did have some accidents that could have caused the initial trauma, but tennis probably killed the shoulder, and golf probably killed the hip, and then starting as an electrician's laborer at 49 years old killed just about everything else... just complaining because i can't do my own labor now (landscaping and hard-scaping), and the weather has been perfect for out-door work lately, it was 85 and sunny for two days, and today is supposed to be 65 in rockingham county :-))
So i think i set my expectations low for this surgery, despite the fact that there was a grinder and a drill involved it was still low trauma/invasive... Dr. Ben Saks probably felt like it was another day at the office (because he's well trained and experienced), but to me, his three to four hours of surgical attention is probably going to give me some additional years of physical ability, and even though there is still some fluid floating around my ass/hip/leg i'm already noticing less pain in that joint, less chronic pain (and FAI) equates to more mobility, less pain, and more self-sufficiency (probably some other positive aspects that i'm over-looking too)... the physical therapist got me moving in a few easy ways that seem insignificant, but they are just getting the surrounding muscles working again, the exercises--despite the resistance--feels good, it feels good doing some of those movements after laying flat for so many hours, the leg appreciates it... so my next big appointment is coming up--what to do about the damaged, worn, and inflamed tissue in my shoulder and wrist... i should still be laser focused on getting the hip and supporting muscles healthy and strong again, but using the crutches is exacerbating the damage done to the wrist and shoulder, it's unavoidable really, so i'm just trying to use them as little as possible, i move just a bit more than jabba-the-hut lately, but i'd like to lose a few pounds, not sit on my ass and burn zero calories for a week, but why should i complain about being forced to relax a bit, the truth is that i don't relax very well, so it's almost like a resistance exercise being forced to relax... anyhow, i think Dr Ben just did regular Dr Ben things, but it might have been life altering to me, it might have been that significant, and it might just be that he did an exceptional job a week ago, he might have mic-drop nailed it when he cut into the old ball-and-socket, it was probably easy/routine for him, but it was HUGE for me, and speaking of 'huge', my leg never swelled up as much as Ben warned me about, i'm definitely still carrying some fluid in my ass/hip/leg, but it never got creepy bloated/big, just a bit jiggly... Dr Ben and his team is awesome, and i'm about ready for a triathlon (no actually, no i'm not)... OK, good night and God bless. -- ct
the hip is recovering well, i'm able to move it pretty good today... here's a gross consideration up until a few hours ago i only defecated enough to fill a cereal bowl, and the turds were very hard and resembled something you'd find in an elk scat, not from humans... so, finally, a week after surgery and the soft-serve ice-cream machine has been turned back on :-)) ... feeling much better, thank you... i feel so good i want to go for a run, but my leg will probably fall off if i do (no really, but it's far too soon)... God bless. -- ct
happy Easter to those of you who celebrate it, i'm just writing here https://www.christopher.news/not-quite/index today... if you read this after Easter then look for the 'Easter 2023' time-stamp... God bless... cheers. -- ct
so this is what they did... right hip arthroscopy with labral repair... femoral-plasty, acetabuloplasty, capsular closure, to correct FAI with torn labrum... Doc Ben executed those procedures with very minimal trauma to surrounding tissue... he warned me that my leg would swell because they pump so much water into the socket area during his work, i definitely noticed some weird jiggle in my quadriceps area during the week, but nothing alarming, but then today i noticed me arse grew as well, it seems the fluid also goes to your ass, in my case it did... the left side is like one of those big florida grapefruits, but the right side is a full-blown melon, maybe 1.3 times larger than the left side:
https://youtu.be/aU4_Gmcr7yw?t=24
just took my third pain pill, took one monday night around 9:pm, then took another one the next day around 4:pm, didn't require any yesterday, and then one just a few seconds ago... i probably shouldn't be as concerned with taking them as i have been, but i've gone through some addictive seasons over the course of my life, mostly using alcohol and/or cannabis, and tried some other things in my youth that just never stuck, so i definitely had some concern about taking opioids after the surgery... but the good thing is that i haven't experienced much pain since the surgery, there isn't as much inflammation or fluds around the site as expected, so there hasn't been too much pressure on surrounding tendons, the incisions are doing well, they aren't really tender and i'm not even icing it, not since monday evening... i'm still babying the hip and leg, have to be careful about how much i bend and rotate, and told to only put 20-percent of weight on it for now, so it's not getting a whole lot of work yet, but it doesn't really get 'painful', i think the procedure is already causing less pain then before despite the 'trauma' of surgery, it doesn't seem like he caused much trauma at all, you know 'minimally invasive' kind of stuff right there, Dr Ben demonstrated/executed some serious skills on my procedures, and now God and biology are doing their respective parts... thanks for the prayers folks, thanks for responding Lord God, now if i can just behave myself and keep realistic expectations and limitations i might just come through this thing with more mobility and less pain, and hopefully for several decades to come (unless that length of time isn't required due to personal expiration)... i don't know what folks did a hundred years ago if they had my particular injury/ailment, i'm sure they slooowed down, eventually used a cane or crutch, probably medicated for pain relief--maybe even became alcoholics or addicts, probably iced the joint when they finally sat still, and might have been a real cranky-pants when the pain-level spiked or was elevated for a long duration... stupid torn labrums and FAI... good thing there are folks like Ben, and the team of folks that work alongside in the whole process, or i might have grown into a miserable old-cuss. -- ct
PT went well, she took off the original dressing and replaced the no-stick strips and just put band-aides over the incisions, the three incisions could fit in a tennis-ball or baseball size circle... awesome... i'd love to watch full video footage of the surgery to see how Ben did his thing... the PT-lady spoke highly of Dr Ben, she appreciates his treatment philosophy--and i think she is spot-on... she also gave me a few easy exercises that i am comfortable with. -- ct
thought it was worth mentioning that when i went to the same-day-surgery neither my wife or i had to wear a mask, no one in the hospital asked to wear one, and out of the 15 people that i had regular close contact with--for the five hours we were there--only seven of them were masked, and they were the ones that worked in the O.R., and the hospital wasn't concerned with my vaxx status... it's almost like the good old days when worse-case scenario wasn't the expected... everyone still has to mask at the VA hospital, government is government. -- ct
arguing with my daughter about how many ounces of hot water to make my tea, not really arguing, more like playful banter/teasing mixed with some emphasized drama/complaining... but it's nice to have loved-ones around to help when you are handicapped... i can make the tea, and my own food, but then i have to consume it in the kitchen (with no table), because you can't really carry much with crutches, the pockets in my PJs are helpful, but not for tea or eggs... i see a physical therapist tomorrow, the older daughter took the day off to drive me... it's weird being the recipient of care, but i'm thankful/grateful for having a loving family that's willing to provide it -- ct
crutches, i won't blow them up... yet... still need them... i might customize them a bit to make them palatable, until then they are the target of my profanity... i think it's the grips that need the most attention... grips can't be too difficult to modify, i don't think they should be round, i think they should be oblong/oval... ooow, i have an idea
i expected to be totally miserable after surgery, i guess it went better than expected, thanks for everyone's prayers, and Doc Ben too, that guy's got some great skills, he must have a very steady hand and phenomenal eye-sight too, he told me today that he didn't use any metal to anchor the sutures for the labrum, just a hole through the pelvis to hold the cord in place, i don't travel much anymore, but that gives the TSA (and metal detectors in general) one less thing to harass me over, no metal in my body still... i took one pain pill today, and it was more for my wrist and shoulder pain then the hip (i fvcking hate crutches), the crutches are a necessity, but if you've got gimpy wrists, elbows, or shoulders then you're bummin (Doc Ben says that he also does shoulders too :-))... not taking a pain pill tonight, in the last 72 hours i've had a collective 4-5 hours of sleep, so i'm skipping the pain pill and opting for an ambien tonight instead, the naproxen lasts about 12 hours, so that should hold me through the night as far as pain goes... i've got a spread-sheet going with all of the meds, what they are for, and when i take them, a good old fashioned pharma-journal... OK, i wish you all a good night, and blessings on your endeavors and sleep. -- ct
So far so good, took one pain-pill and i don't think i needed it, i took it before i went to bed to help with sleeping and pain, the pain never got bad overnight, and i don't know if i even slept about an hour, so i don't know if it was necessary at all, the naproxen might be enough without the powerful/addictive stuff, but time will tell... thankful for the way this experience has been going. -- ct
got home around 15:30, the team seemed like a great group of folks... the hip isn't in much pain right now, i took some naproxin around 17:00, drinking more fluids then i'm accustomed too, about to have some matzo-ball soup for dinner, and will probably take one of the hardcore drugs in a couple of hours to help with pain and sleep tonight... my leg hasn't bloated much yet, they pumped a bunch of water in the hip while they used the grinder to keep bone debris from staying inside, and i had visions of a 150lb leg that i'd be dragging around for days, i think it's only about 30-40lbs right now... although my toes feel a bit fat (hard to flex), but i'm not taking the compression sock off to look at it right now... God bless -- CT